15 Search Results for "Roberson, David E."

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.25
Homomorphism Indistinguishability, Multiplicity Automata Equivalence, and Polynomial Identity Testing

Authors: Marek Černý and Tim Seppelt

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract
Two graphs G and H are homomorphism indistinguishable over a graph class ℱ if they admit the same number of homomorphisms from every graph F ∈ ℱ. Many graph isomorphism relaxations such as (quantum) isomorphism and cospectrality can be characterised as homomorphism indistinguishability over specific graph classes. Thereby, the problems HomInd(ℱ) of deciding homomorphism indistinguishability over ℱ subsume diverse graph isomorphism relaxations whose complexities range from logspace to undecidable. Establishing the first general result on the complexity of HomInd(ℱ), Seppelt (MFCS 2024) showed that HomInd(ℱ) is in randomised polynomial time for every graph class ℱ of bounded treewidth that can be defined in counting monadic second-order logic CMSO₂. We show that this algorithm is conditionally optimal, i.e. it cannot be derandomised unless polynomial identity testing is in P. For CMSO₂-definable graph classes ℱ of bounded pathwidth, we improve the previous complexity upper bound for HomInd(ℱ) from P to C_ = L and show that this is tight. Secondarily, we establish a connection between homomorphism indistinguishability and multiplicity automata equivalence which allows us to pinpoint the complexity of the latter problem as C_ = L-complete.
Cite as

Marek Černý and Tim Seppelt. Homomorphism Indistinguishability, Multiplicity Automata Equivalence, and Polynomial Identity Testing. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 25:1-25:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{cerny_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.25,
  author =	{\v{C}ern\'{y}, Marek and Seppelt, Tim},
  title =	{{Homomorphism Indistinguishability, Multiplicity Automata Equivalence, and Polynomial Identity Testing}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{25:1--25:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.25},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255144},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.25},
  annote =	{Keywords: treewidth, Courcelle’s theorem, logspace, multiplicity automata, polynomial identity testing}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46
Symmetric Algebraic Circuits and Homomorphism Polynomials

Authors: Anuj Dawar, Benedikt Pago, and Tim Seppelt

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract
The central open question of algebraic complexity is whether VP ≠ VNP, which is saying that the permanent cannot be represented by families of polynomial-size algebraic circuits. For symmetric algebraic circuits, this has been confirmed by Dawar and Wilsenach (2020), who showed exponential lower bounds on the size of symmetric circuits for the permanent. In this work, we set out to develop a more general symmetric algebraic complexity theory. Our main result is that a family of symmetric polynomials admits small symmetric circuits if and only if they can be written as a linear combination of homomorphism counting polynomials of graphs of bounded treewidth. We also establish a relationship between the symmetric complexity of subgraph counting polynomials and the vertex cover number of the pattern graph. As a concrete example, we examine the symmetric complexity of immanant families (a generalisation of the determinant and permanent) and show that a known conditional dichotomy due to Curticapean (2021) holds unconditionally in the symmetric setting.
Cite as

Anuj Dawar, Benedikt Pago, and Tim Seppelt. Symmetric Algebraic Circuits and Homomorphism Polynomials. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 46:1-46:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{dawar_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46,
  author =	{Dawar, Anuj and Pago, Benedikt and Seppelt, Tim},
  title =	{{Symmetric Algebraic Circuits and Homomorphism Polynomials}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{46:1--46:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253330},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.46},
  annote =	{Keywords: algebraic complexity, finite model theory, symmetric circuits, homomorphism counting, graph homomorphism, treewidth, counting width, first-order logic with counting quantifiers}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.32
Vanishing Signatures, Orbit Closure, and the Converse of the Holant Theorem

Authors: Jin-Yi Cai and Ben Young

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract
Valiant’s Holant theorem is a powerful tool for algorithms and reductions for counting problems. It states that if two sets ℱ and 𝒢 of tensors (a.k.a. constraint functions or signatures) are related by a holographic transformation, then ℱ and 𝒢 are Holant-indistinguishable, i.e., every tensor network using tensors from ℱ, respectively from 𝒢, contracts to the same value. Xia (ICALP 2010) conjectured the converse of the Holant theorem, but a counterexample was found based on vanishing signatures, those which are Holant-indistinguishable from 0. We prove two near-converses of the Holant theorem using techniques from invariant theory. (I) Holant-indistinguishable ℱ and 𝒢 always admit two sequences of holographic transformations mapping them arbitrarily close to each other, i.e., their GL_q-orbit closures intersect. (II) We show that vanishing signatures are the only true obstacle to a converse of the Holant theorem. As corollaries of the two theorems we obtain the first characterization of homomorphism-indistinguishability over graphs of bounded degree, a long standing open problem, and show that two graphs with invertible adjacency matrices are isomorphic if and only if they are homomorphism-indistinguishable over graphs with maximum degree at most three. We also show that Holant-indistinguishability is complete for a complexity class TOCI introduced by Lysikov and Walter [Vladimir Lysikov and Michael Walter, 2024], and hence hard for graph isomorphism.
Cite as

Jin-Yi Cai and Ben Young. Vanishing Signatures, Orbit Closure, and the Converse of the Holant Theorem. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 32:1-32:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{cai_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.32,
  author =	{Cai, Jin-Yi and Young, Ben},
  title =	{{Vanishing Signatures, Orbit Closure, and the Converse of the Holant Theorem}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{32:1--32:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.32},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253198},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.32},
  annote =	{Keywords: Holant, Orbit Closure Intersection, Homomorphism Indistinguishability, Tensor Network}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2025.10
Standards-Based Grading in Undergraduate Courses for Technology Majors

Authors: Ruth Lamprecht, Jonathan McCurdy, Melanie Butler, Brian Heinold, and Daniel Salinas Duron

Published in: OASIcs, Volume 133, 6th International Computer Programming Education Conference (ICPEC 2025)

Abstract
This paper outlines the methods employed by several instructors within a single department to implement standards-based assessments. The authors began integrating standards across multiple courses in their computer science, cybersecurity, data science, and mathematics programs. This shift was driven by a desire to promote equity in grading and to address the growing influence of artificial intelligence, which can obscure a student’s true understanding. In this work, the authors examine the supporting research that guided their motivation and informed their implementation of various grading techniques. With an emphasis on courses involving technology, they also detail the processes they use to manage the new assessments, provide examples of assessment questions, and share key lessons learned in making this transition successful for both instructors and students. This work addresses a significant gap in the literature, as there appears to be a notable lack of resources on the application of standards-based grading in technical disciplines.
Cite as

Ruth Lamprecht, Jonathan McCurdy, Melanie Butler, Brian Heinold, and Daniel Salinas Duron. Standards-Based Grading in Undergraduate Courses for Technology Majors. In 6th International Computer Programming Education Conference (ICPEC 2025). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 133, pp. 10:1-10:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{lamprecht_et_al:OASIcs.ICPEC.2025.10,
  author =	{Lamprecht, Ruth and McCurdy, Jonathan and Butler, Melanie and Heinold, Brian and Salinas Duron, Daniel},
  title =	{{Standards-Based Grading in Undergraduate Courses for Technology Majors}},
  booktitle =	{6th International Computer Programming Education Conference (ICPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:14},
  series =	{Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-393-5},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{133},
  editor =	{Queir\'{o}s, Ricardo and Pinto, M\'{a}rio and Portela, Filipe and Sim\~{o}es, Alberto},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2025.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-240408},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2025.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: Alternative Grading, Standards-Based Grading, Computer Science}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.88
Color Refinement for Relational Structures

Authors: Benjamin Scheidt and Nicole Schweikardt

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract
Color Refinement, also known as Naive Vertex Classification, is a classical method to distinguish graphs by iteratively computing a coloring of their vertices. While it is traditionally used as an imperfect way to test for isomorphism, the algorithm has permeated many other, seemingly unrelated, areas of computer science. The method is algorithmically simple, and it has a well-understood distinguishing power: it has been logically characterized by Immerman and Lander (1990) and Cai, Fürer, Immerman (1992), who showed that it distinguishes precisely those graphs that can be distinguished by a sentence of first-order logic with counting quantifiers and only two variables. A combinatorial characterization was given by Dvořák (2010), who showed that it distinguishes precisely those graphs that differ in the number of homomorphisms from some tree. In this paper, we introduce Relational Color Refinement (RCR, for short), a generalization of the Color Refinement method from graphs to arbitrary relational structures, whose distinguishing power admits the equivalent combinatorial and logical characterizations as Color Refinement has on graphs: we show that RCR distinguishes precisely those structures that differ in the number of homomorphisms from an acyclic connected relational structure. Further, we show that RCR distinguishes precisely those structures that are distinguished by a sentence of the guarded fragment of first-order logic with counting quantifiers. Additionally, we show that for every fixed finite relational signature, RCR can be implemented to run on structures of that signature in time O(N⋅log N), where N denotes the number of tuples present in the structure.
Cite as

Benjamin Scheidt and Nicole Schweikardt. Color Refinement for Relational Structures. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 88:1-88:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{scheidt_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.88,
  author =	{Scheidt, Benjamin and Schweikardt, Nicole},
  title =	{{Color Refinement for Relational Structures}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{88:1--88:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.88},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241958},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.88},
  annote =	{Keywords: color refinement, counting logics, homomorphism counts, homomorphism indistinguishability, guarded logics, pebble games, relational structures, alpha-acyclicity, join-trees}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.89
Homomorphism Indistinguishability and Game Comonads for Restricted Conjunction and Requantification

Authors: Georg Schindling

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract
The notion of homomorphism indistinguishability offers a combinatorial framework for characterizing equivalence relations of graphs, in particular equivalences in counting logics within finite model theory. That is, for certain graph classes, two structures agree on all homomorphism counts from the class if and only if they satisfy the same sentences in a corresponding logic. This perspective often reveals connections between the combinatorial properties of graph classes and the syntactic structure of logical fragments. In this work, we extend this perspective to logics with restricted requantification, refining the stratification of logical resources in finite-variable counting logics. Specifically, we generalize Lovász-type theorems for these logics with either restricted conjunction or bounded quantifier-rank and present new combinatorial proofs of existing results. To this end, we introduce novel path and tree decompositions that incorporate the concept of reusability and develop characterizations based on pursuit-evasion games. Leveraging this framework, we establish that classes of bounded pathwidth and treewidth with reusability constraints are homomorphism distinguishing closed. Finally, we develop a comonadic perspective on requantification by constructing new comonads that encapsulate restricted-reusability pebble games. We show a tight correspondence between their coalgebras and path/tree decompositions, yielding categorical characterizations of reusability in graph decompositions. This unifies logical, combinatorial, and categorical perspectives on the notion of reusability.
Cite as

Georg Schindling. Homomorphism Indistinguishability and Game Comonads for Restricted Conjunction and Requantification. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 89:1-89:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{schindling:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.89,
  author =	{Schindling, Georg},
  title =	{{Homomorphism Indistinguishability and Game Comonads for Restricted Conjunction and Requantification}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{89:1--89:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.89},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241962},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.89},
  annote =	{Keywords: homomorphism indistinguishability, game comonads, finite variable counting logic, restricted conjunction, restricted requantification, tree decomposition, path decomposition}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.34
Adaptive Query Algorithms for Relational Structures Based on Homomorphism Counts

Authors: Balder ten Cate, Phokion G. Kolaitis, and Arnar Á. Kristjánsson

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract
A query algorithm based on homomorphism counts is a procedure to decide membership for a class of finite relational structures using only homomorphism count queries. A left query algorithm can ask the number of homomorphisms from any structure to the input structure and a right query algorithm can ask the number of homomorphisms from the input structure to any other structure. We systematically compare the expressive power of different types of left or right query algorithms, including non-adaptive query algorithms, adaptive query algorithms that can ask a bounded number of queries, and adaptive query algorithms that can ask an unbounded number of queries. We also consider query algorithms where the homomorphism counting is done over the Boolean semiring 𝔹, meaning that only the existence of a homomorphism is recorded, not the precise number of them.
Cite as

Balder ten Cate, Phokion G. Kolaitis, and Arnar Á. Kristjánsson. Adaptive Query Algorithms for Relational Structures Based on Homomorphism Counts. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 34:1-34:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{tencate_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.34,
  author =	{ten Cate, Balder and Kolaitis, Phokion G. and Kristj\'{a}nsson, Arnar \'{A}.},
  title =	{{Adaptive Query Algorithms for Relational Structures Based on Homomorphism Counts}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{34:1--34:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.34},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241413},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.34},
  annote =	{Keywords: Query algorithms, homomorphisms, homomorphism counts, directed graphs, relational structures, Datalog, constraint satisfaction}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61
Quantum Relaxations of CSP and Structure Isomorphism

Authors: Amin Karamlou

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract
We investigate quantum relaxations of two key decision problems in computer science: the constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) and the structure isomorphism problem. CSP asks whether a homomorphism exists between two relational structures, while structure isomorphism seeks an isomorphism between them. In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that many special cases of CSP can be reformulated in terms of the existence of perfect classical strategies in non-local games, a key topic of study in quantum information theory. These games have allowed us to study quantum advantage in relation to many important decision problems, such as the k-colouring problem, and the problem of solving binary constraint systems. Abramsky et al. (2017) have shown that all of these games can be seen as special instances of a non-local CSP game. Moreover, they show that perfect quantum strategies in this CSP game can be viewed as Kleisli morphisms of a graded monad on the category of relational structures, which they dub the quantum monad. In this way, the quantum monad provides a categorical characterisation of quantum advantage for the non-local CSP game. In this work we solidify and expand the results of Abramsky et al., answering several of their open questions. Firstly, we compare the definition of quantum graph homomorphisms arising from this work with an earlier definition of the concept due to Mančinska and Roberson and show that there are graphs which exhibit quantum advantage under one definition but not the other. Our second contribution is to extend the results of Abramsky et al. which only hold in the tensor product framework of quantum mechanics to the commuting operator framework. Next, we study a non-local structure isomorphism game, which generalises the well-studied graph isomorphism game. We show how the construction of the quantum monad can be refined to provide categorical semantics for quantum strategies in this game. This results in a category where morphisms coincide with quantum homomorphisms and isomorphisms coincide with quantum isomorphisms.
Cite as

Amin Karamlou. Quantum Relaxations of CSP and Structure Isomorphism. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 61:1-61:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{karamlou:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61,
  author =	{Karamlou, Amin},
  title =	{{Quantum Relaxations of CSP and Structure Isomorphism}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{61:1--61:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241686},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.61},
  annote =	{Keywords: CSP, graph isomorphism, quantum information, non-local game, quantum graph homomorphism, monad}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.105
NPA Hierarchy for Quantum Isomorphism and Homomorphism Indistinguishability

Authors: Prem Nigam Kar, David E. Roberson, Tim Seppelt, and Peter Zeman

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
Mančinska and Roberson [FOCS'20] showed that two graphs are quantum isomorphic if and only if they are homomorphism indistinguishable over the class of planar graphs. Atserias et al. [JCTB'19] proved that quantum isomorphism is undecidable in general. The NPA hierarchy gives a sequence of semidefinite programming relaxations of quantum isomorphism. Recently, Roberson and Seppelt [ICALP'23] obtained a homomorphism indistinguishability characterization of the feasibility of each level of the Lasserre hierarchy of semidefinite programming relaxations of graph isomorphism. We prove a quantum analogue of this result by showing that each level of the NPA hierarchy of SDP relaxations for quantum isomorphism of graphs is equivalent to homomorphism indistinguishability over an appropriate class of planar graphs. By combining the convergence of the NPA hierarchy with the fact that the union of these graph classes is the set of all planar graphs, we are able to give a new proof of the result of Mančinska and Roberson [FOCS'20] that avoids the use of the theory of quantum groups. This homomorphism indistinguishability characterization also allows us to give a randomized polynomial-time algorithm deciding exact feasibility of each fixed level of the NPA hierarchy of SDP relaxations for quantum isomorphism.
Cite as

Prem Nigam Kar, David E. Roberson, Tim Seppelt, and Peter Zeman. NPA Hierarchy for Quantum Isomorphism and Homomorphism Indistinguishability. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 105:1-105:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{kar_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.105,
  author =	{Kar, Prem Nigam and Roberson, David E. and Seppelt, Tim and Zeman, Peter},
  title =	{{NPA Hierarchy for Quantum Isomorphism and Homomorphism Indistinguishability}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{105:1--105:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.105},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234828},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.105},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum isomorphism, NPA hierarchy, homomorphism indistinguishability}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.136
The Converse of the Real Orthogonal Holant Theorem

Authors: Ben Young

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
The Holant theorem is a powerful tool for studying the computational complexity of counting problems. Due to the great expressiveness of the Holant framework, a converse to the Holant theorem would itself be a very powerful counting indistinguishability theorem. The most general converse does not hold, but we prove the following, still highly general, version: if any two sets of real-valued signatures are Holant-indistinguishable, then they are equivalent up to an orthogonal transformation. This resolves a partially open conjecture of Xia (2010). Consequences of this theorem include the well-known result that homomorphism counts from all graphs determine a graph up to isomorphism, the classical sufficient condition for simultaneous orthogonal similarity of sets of real matrices, and a combinatorial characterization of sets of simultaneosly orthogonally decomposable (odeco) symmetric tensors.
Cite as

Ben Young. The Converse of the Real Orthogonal Holant Theorem. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 136:1-136:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{young:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.136,
  author =	{Young, Ben},
  title =	{{The Converse of the Real Orthogonal Holant Theorem}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{136:1--136:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.136},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-235138},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.136},
  annote =	{Keywords: Holant, Counting Indistinguishability, Odeco}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.37
Satisfiability of Commutative vs. Non-Commutative CSPs

Authors: Andrei A. Bulatov and Stanislav Živný

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
The Mermin-Peres magic square is a celebrated example of a system of Boolean linear equations that is not (classically) satisfiable but is satisfiable via linear operators on a Hilbert space of dimension four. A natural question is then, for what kind of problems such a phenomenon occurs? Atserias, Kolaitis, and Severini answered this question for all Boolean Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs): For 0-Valid-SAT, 1-Valid-SAT, 2-SAT, Horn-SAT, and Dual Horn-SAT, classical satisfiability and operator satisfiability is the same and thus there is no gap; for all other Boolean CSPs, these notions differ as there are gaps, i.e., there are unsatisfiable instances that are satisfiable via operators on Hilbert spaces. We generalize their result to CSPs on arbitrary finite domains and give an almost complete classification: First, we show that NP-hard CSPs admit a separation between classical satisfiability and satisfiability via operators on finite- and infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. Second, we show that tractable CSPs of bounded width have no satisfiability gaps of any kind. Finally, we show that tractable CSPs of unbounded width can simulate, in a satisfiability-gap-preserving fashion, linear equations over an Abelian group of prime order p; for such CSPs, we obtain a separation of classical satisfiability and satisfiability via operators on infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. Furthermore, if p = 2, such CSPs also have gaps separating classical satisfiability and satisfiability via operators on finite- and infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces.
Cite as

Andrei A. Bulatov and Stanislav Živný. Satisfiability of Commutative vs. Non-Commutative CSPs. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 37:1-37:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{bulatov_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.37,
  author =	{Bulatov, Andrei A. and \v{Z}ivn\'{y}, Stanislav},
  title =	{{Satisfiability of Commutative vs. Non-Commutative CSPs}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{37:1--37:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.37},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234149},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.37},
  annote =	{Keywords: constraint satisfaction, quantum CSP, operator CSP}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.129
An Upper Bound on the Weisfeiler-Leman Dimension

Authors: Thomas Schneider and Pascal Schweitzer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract
The Weisfeiler-Leman (WL) algorithms form a family of incomplete approaches to the graph isomorphism problem. They recently found various applications in algorithmic group theory and machine learning. In fact, the algorithms form a parameterized family: for each k ∈ ℕ there is a corresponding k-dimensional algorithm WLk. The algorithms become increasingly powerful with increasing dimension, but at the same time the running time increases. The WL-dimension of a graph G is the smallest k ∈ ℕ for which WLk correctly decides isomorphism between G and every other graph. In some sense, the WL-dimension measures how difficult it is to test isomorphism of one graph to others using a fairly general class of combinatorial algorithms. Nowadays, it is a standard measure in descriptive complexity theory for the structural complexity of a graph. We prove that the WL-dimension of a graph on n vertices is at most 3/20 ⋅ n + o(n) = 0.15 ⋅ n + o(n). Reducing the question to coherent configurations, the proof develops various techniques to analyze their structure. This includes sufficient conditions under which a fiber can be restored uniquely up to isomorphism if it is removed, a recursive proof exploiting a degree reduction and treewidth bounds, as well as an exhaustive analysis of interspaces involving small fibers. As a base case, we also analyze the dimension of coherent configurations with small fiber size and thereby graphs with small color class size.
Cite as

Thomas Schneider and Pascal Schweitzer. An Upper Bound on the Weisfeiler-Leman Dimension. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 129:1-129:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{schneider_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.129,
  author =	{Schneider, Thomas and Schweitzer, Pascal},
  title =	{{An Upper Bound on the Weisfeiler-Leman Dimension}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{129:1--129:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.129},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-235065},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.129},
  annote =	{Keywords: Weisfeiler-Leman dimension, descriptive complexity, coherent configurations}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.82
Logical Equivalences, Homomorphism Indistinguishability, and Forbidden Minors

Authors: Tim Seppelt

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 272, 48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2023)

Abstract
Two graphs G and H are homomorphism indistinguishable over a class of graphs ℱ if for all graphs F ∈ ℱ the number of homomorphisms from F to G is equal to the number of homomorphisms from F to H. Many natural equivalence relations comparing graphs such as (quantum) isomorphism, spectral, and logical equivalences can be characterised as homomorphism indistinguishability relations over certain graph classes. Abstracting from the wealth of such instances, we show in this paper that equivalences w.r.t. any self-complementarity logic admitting a characterisation as homomorphism indistinguishability relation can be characterised by homomorphism indistinguishability over a minor-closed graph class. Self-complementarity is a mild property satisfied by most well-studied logics. This result follows from a correspondence between closure properties of a graph class and preservation properties of its homomorphism indistinguishability relation. Furthermore, we classify all graph classes which are in a sense finite (essentially profinite) and satisfy the maximality condition of being homomorphism distinguishing closed, i.e. adding any graph to the class strictly refines its homomorphism indistinguishability relation. Thereby, we answer various questions raised by Roberson (2022) on general properties of the homomorphism distinguishing closure.
Cite as

Tim Seppelt. Logical Equivalences, Homomorphism Indistinguishability, and Forbidden Minors. In 48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 272, pp. 82:1-82:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@InProceedings{seppelt:LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.82,
  author =	{Seppelt, Tim},
  title =	{{Logical Equivalences, Homomorphism Indistinguishability, and Forbidden Minors}},
  booktitle =	{48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2023)},
  pages =	{82:1--82:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-292-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{272},
  editor =	{Leroux, J\'{e}r\^{o}me and Lombardy, Sylvain and Peleg, David},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.82},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-186161},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2023.82},
  annote =	{Keywords: homomorphism indistinguishability, graph minor, logic}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.101
Lasserre Hierarchy for Graph Isomorphism and Homomorphism Indistinguishability

Authors: David E. Roberson and Tim Seppelt

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 261, 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023)

Abstract
We show that feasibility of the t^th level of the Lasserre semidefinite programming hierarchy for graph isomorphism can be expressed as a homomorphism indistinguishability relation. In other words, we define a class ℒ_t of graphs such that graphs G and H are not distinguished by the t^th level of the Lasserre hierarchy if and only if they admit the same number of homomorphisms from any graph in ℒ_t. By analysing the treewidth of graphs in ℒ_t we prove that the 3t^th level of Sherali-Adams linear programming hierarchy is as strong as the t^th level of Lasserre. Moreover, we show that this is best possible in the sense that 3t cannot be lowered to 3t-1 for any t. The same result holds for the Lasserre hierarchy with non-negativity constraints, which we similarly characterise in terms of homomorphism indistinguishability over a family ℒ_t^+ of graphs. Additionally, we give characterisations of level-t Lasserre with non-negativity constraints in terms of logical equivalence and via a graph colouring algorithm akin to the Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm. This provides a polynomial time algorithm for determining if two given graphs are distinguished by the t^th level of the Lasserre hierarchy with non-negativity constraints.
Cite as

David E. Roberson and Tim Seppelt. Lasserre Hierarchy for Graph Isomorphism and Homomorphism Indistinguishability. In 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 261, pp. 101:1-101:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@InProceedings{roberson_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.101,
  author =	{Roberson, David E. and Seppelt, Tim},
  title =	{{Lasserre Hierarchy for Graph Isomorphism and Homomorphism Indistinguishability}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023)},
  pages =	{101:1--101:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-278-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{261},
  editor =	{Etessami, Kousha and Feige, Uriel and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.101},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-181531},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2023.101},
  annote =	{Keywords: Lasserre hierarchy, homomorphism indistinguishability, Sherali-Adams hierarchy, treewidth, semidefinite programming, linear programming, graph isomorphism}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2017.76
Relaxations of Graph Isomorphism

Authors: Laura Mancinska, David E. Roberson, Robert Samal, Simone Severini, and Antonios Varvitsiotis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 80, 44th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2017)

Abstract
We introduce a nonlocal game that captures and extends the notion of graph isomorphism. This game can be won in the classical case if and only if the two input graphs are isomorphic. Thus, by considering quantum strategies we are able to define the notion of quantum isomorphism. We also consider the case of more general non-signalling strategies, and show that such a strategy exists if and only if the graphs are fractionally isomorphic. We prove several necessary conditions for quantum isomorphism, including cospectrality, and provide a construction for producing pairs of non-isomorphic graphs that are quantum isomorphic. We then show that both classical and quantum isomorphism can be reformulated as feasibility programs over the completely positive and completely positive semidefinite cones respectively. This leads us to considering relaxations of (quantum) isomorphism arrived at by relaxing the cone to either the doubly nonnegative (DNN) or positive semidefinite (PSD) cones. We show that DNN-isomorphism is equivalent to the previous defined notion of graph equivalence, a polynomial-time decidable relation that is related to coherent algebras. We also show that PSD-isomorphism implies several types of cospectrality, and that it is equivalent to cospectrality for connected 1-walk-regular graphs. Finally, we show that all of the above mentioned relations form a strict hierarchy of weaker and weaker relations, with non-singalling/fractional isomorphism being the weakest. The techniques used are an interesting mix of algebra, combinatorics, and quantum information.
Cite as

Laura Mancinska, David E. Roberson, Robert Samal, Simone Severini, and Antonios Varvitsiotis. Relaxations of Graph Isomorphism. In 44th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 80, pp. 76:1-76:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{mancinska_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2017.76,
  author =	{Mancinska, Laura and Roberson, David E. and Samal, Robert and Severini, Simone and Varvitsiotis, Antonios},
  title =	{{Relaxations of Graph Isomorphism}},
  booktitle =	{44th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2017)},
  pages =	{76:1--76:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-041-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{80},
  editor =	{Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis and Indyk, Piotr and Kuhn, Fabian and Muscholl, Anca},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2017.76},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-74697},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2017.76},
  annote =	{Keywords: graph isomorphism, quantum information, semidefinite programming}
}
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